A summary of Western ski resort tourism statistics compiled by the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau indicates that six of the Rocky Mountain West's major resort areas, including Sun Valley/Ketchum, are bouncing back from a post-9/11 setback.
The report composed in May shows that Sun Valley, Jackson, Wyo., and the Colorado resort areas of Crested Butte, Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Telluride have all experienced growth in categories that are considered key indicators of economic health.
The report provides statistics on retail sales tax revenues, lodging sales tax revenues, lodging occupancies and air-service enplanements between 1995 and 2004. Overall, Sun Valley and Ketchum fell near the middle of the pack in growth in the various categories.
The average annual growth rate in retail sales tax revenues for all of resorts was 3 percent, while the cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley separately posted rates of 2 percent and 1 percent respectively.
Although Ketchum and Sun Valley's total local sales tax revenues have lingered near the bottom of the pack with Crested Butte, when the two sums are combined they surpassed the $1.8 million mark in 2004. Steamboat Springs led the pack in 2004 with revenues of more than $14 million; Aspen and Telluride both hovered around $4 million.
All of the out-of-state resort cities have higher retail sales tax rates than Ketchum (1 percent) and Sun Valley (3 percent), ranging from 4.5 percent (Steamboat) to 6.7 percent (Aspen).
Not all of the cities apply a specific tax to lodging or try to separate lodging and retail tax revenues, the report indicates. During the period of the study, the average annual growth rate for those resort cities that do apply such a tax was 1 percent. The average annual growth rate for Sun Valley was 3 percent and Ketchum was 2 percent.
In the category of lodging occupancies, the average annual increase for all of the resorts (except Crested Butte, which does not have accurate records) was 2 percent. The average annual increase in Sun Valley/Ketchum was 1 percent.
In the category of enplanements (airplane boardings), the average annual increase for all resorts was 3 percent; Sun Valley/Ketchum was 2 percent. Still, Sun Valley/Ketchum's total enplanements figure lingers below the other resorts, except Crested Butte. In 2004, Sun Valley (Friedman Memorial Airport) recorded 73,385 enplanements, while Jackson topped the list with 210,773.
In the end, the report concludes that after generally suffering decreases in retail tax revenues, lodging ales tax revenues, lodging occupancies and enplanements in the post-9/11 era of 2001 through 2003, "positive gains were made in most areas by most resorts in 2004."
